Trolley-track rail.



"N0- 762,955. PATE'NTED JUNE 21, 1904.

W- H. SPILLER.

TROLLEY TRACK RAIL.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 17, 1903.

H0 IODEL.

Fflllllllllllllllll NITED STATES Patented June 21, 1904.

WILLIAM H. SPILLER, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILCOX MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A OORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TROLLEY-TRAOK RAIL.

SIPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 762,955, dated June 21, 1904.

Ap li ation fil d November 17, 1903. Serial No. 181,562. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. SPILLER, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane'and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Track Rails, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in rails for overhead tracks upon which run trolley-wheels that carry loads suspended therefrom from place to placeas, for example, from one point in a factory or other building to another point in the same building or from building to building. Transporting articles in this manner is becoming more and more common, and as it is becoming common also to use such transporting means in connection with the moving of very heavy articles and packages of merchandise it is important that the rails upon whiehthe trolley-wheels run be of such construction as to successfully withstand the heavy strains necessarily imposed upon them and remain at all times in proper position, so that there shall be no warping or twisting or defective joints to offer obstructions to the easy rolling of the wheels as they are moved along the rails. It is of course very desirable that while rails shall be produced and employed that possess the required strength they shall also be of such form as will permit them to be manufactured readily and economically; and it is the object of my invention to produce rails designed for uses, as above referred to, which can at-the same time be readily and cheaply formed. I accomplish this by constructing each rail-section of a single piece of comparatively heavy sheet metal and imparting to the same by suitable bending machinery the bends shown inthe drawings,and to which more specific reference is hereinafter made.

That which I believe to be new will be set forth in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of my improved trolley track rail and one of the supportingbrackets used in connection therewith and showing also in dotted lines the position of a trolley-wheel on such rail; and Fig. 2 shows also an end view of such arail embodying my invention, but formed in aslightly-differstruction shown in said Fig. 1 below the longitudinal center of such bearing-face. B indicates a trolley-wheel with a flat tread that bears upon the face 6, the flange of the wheel,

as shown, being at one side of such face 6. As shown, the face 6 and the tread of the wheel are slightly inclined, as better results are. found to be obtained by so forming them. Q

indicates a supporting-bracket that is bent at its lower portion so as to project beneath the bearing-face 6, after which, as shown, it is turned downward and conforms to the curvature of the downwardly-inclined supporting portion 0. The bracket, it will be observed, is in its general shape made to conform to the shape of the rail, and by reason of its projection beneath the bearing-faceb affords a rigid support where most needednamely, where the greatest weight of the load transmitted through the trolley-wheels comes upon the track. This bracket is of course to be made of material heavy enough to be of suitable support to the rail and the load imposed thereon and may be of any desired material, although I prefer to constructit of steel. These brackets are designed to be placed at suitable distances apart, as willf be As shown, this portion" well understood, and they should especially be openings (indicated by (Z and c) are formed in.

the'bracket, with which register suitable openportion 6 of the rail.

ings in the rail A, so that the bolts or other fastenings that are employed for securing the bracket in place also serve to firmly unite the rail to the bracket. The opening is, as shown,

located near the lower end of .the bracket, and

by securing the inclined portion a to the bracket at this point it will be seen that a very rigid brace is provided for the bearing-face Such bracing, in connection with the deep projecting portion of the bracket that projects beneath the bearing portion 6, efiectuall y prevents any giving way of the rail even under extraordinary loads that may be carried by the trolley.

I have shown but a single rail; but in view of the long use of trolley-tracks it will be understood, of course, that the complete track will be formed of two oppositely-located lines of such rails placed a suitable distance apart.

Referring now to the form of rail shown in Fig. 2, it will be noted that the downwardlyextending supporting portion of the rail is not inclined, as in the construction shown in Fig. 1, but that in forming this downwardlyextending support or brace the metal sheet of which the rail is formed is turned back upon itself, so as to lie against the under surface of the bearing-face portion, and at about the center of such bearing-face portion it is turned at approximately a right angle, so as to stand vertically under such central portion of the bearing-face. It will be understood that a bracket is to be employed, in connection with this rail, that properly conforms to the modified shape there shown and, as in the case of the construction shown in Fig. 1, the rail and bracket are to be secured together by preferably all the same fastening devices that are employed for holding the bracket in place, and it will be understood that with abracket bent, as in the case of Fig. 1, to come under the bearing-face and with the lower end of the downwardly depending supporting piece bolted to the lower end of such bracket the bearing-face of this form of rail will, as in the other construction, also be very strongly supported. In this modified form (shown in Fig. 2) the rail as a whole is indicated by A, and the several portions thereof are indicated by the same reference-numerals as in Fig. 1, with the addition of a prime-mark to each of said numerals.

That which I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A trolley-track rail made from a single sheet of metal bent to form a wall portion, a bearing face and a downwardly extending bracing portion, substantially as specified.

2. A trolley-track rail made from a single sheet of metal bent to form a wall portion, a bearingface and a downwardly extending bracing portion, said bracing portion projecting beneath said bearing-face, substantially as specified.

3. A trolley-track rail made from a single sheet of metal bent to form a wall portion, a bearing-face and a downwardly extending and inclined bracing portion, said bracing portion projecting beneath said bearing-face, substantially as specified.

4:. The combination with a trolley-track rail formed of a wall portion, a bearing-face and a downwardly-extending bracing portion, of a supporting-bracket having a projecting portion extending beneath the said bearingface, and a downward extension adapted to be connected with the said bracing portion of the rail, substantially as specified. WILLIAM H. SPILLER. Witnesses:

E. M. SPRINGER, H. J. Moss. 

